


Everything Will Be Alright, Alright

by pocketmumbles (livelikejack)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-06 11:05:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3132209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livelikejack/pseuds/pocketmumbles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura grabs his hands and starts jumping on the bed as the guitar kicks in again. <em>“It just takes some time! Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride!”</em> they scream into each other’s faces, gleefully out of tune. <em>“Everything, everything will be just fine! Everything, everything will be alright, alright!”</em></p>
<p>(Or, how Derek Hale learned to live and love and find a home again with the help of that one song by Jimmy Eat World.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything Will Be Alright, Alright

**Author's Note:**

> This fic revolves entirely around the song ["The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKsxPW6i3pM) \- or, more specifically, its chorus. Just warning you in case you don't like that song.
> 
> Thanks to [jjjat3am](http://archiveofourown.org/users/jjjat3am) for giving me the fic idea at approximately 1 in the morning and then inspiring me to write the whole thing like a madman.

_“Hey! Don’t write yourself off yet…”_

Cora stomps into Derek’s room and scowls at them. “Really?” she yells over the music. _“Again?”_

Laura laughs and gestures Cora into the room. “Come dance with us, Cora!” Their little sister rolls her eyes and slams the door shut behind them.

Derek shakes his head after her. “I think we’re going to have to disown her,” he tells Laura. “She doesn’t get Jimmy Eat World. Who doesn’t get Jimmy Eat World?”

“Give her time,” Laura says, patting Derek’s head. “She’s still young. She’ll grow into it.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“ _Then_ we’ll disown her,” Laura says with a wicked grin. She leans over and skips back a track on Derek’s CD player, then grabs his hands and starts jumping on the bed as the guitar kicks in again. _“It just takes some time! Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride!”_ they scream into each other’s faces, gleefully out of tune. _“Everything, everything will be just fine! Everything, everything will be alright, alright!”_

 

* * *

 

Paige’s funeral passes in a blur. Derek huddles in the back of the crowd, the guilt eating him from the inside out. He can’t bear to face her coffin, can’t bear to look away. Her parents put on brave faces as they hug him, trying their best to comfort an innocent young boy who lost his first love.

He wants to tell them the truth, wants to pull away from the embrace he doesn’t deserve. This is his fault; all they have to do is see his eyes to know the truth. But the words stick in his throat, and he can’t help but clutch at Paige’s family.

Laura finds him sitting in the old steel mill, staring at the moon through the carved-out spiral while his eyes sting from tears that refuse to fall. She doesn’t try to tell him that he did the right thing, that he did the wrong thing, that he did anything at all. She just sits down next to him and tucks his head under her chin. _“It just takes some time,”_ she croons gently as she pets his hair. _“Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride. Everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be alright, alright.”_

He squeezes his eyes shut and lets himself cry.

 

* * *

 

“We’re going to be okay,” Laura says, setting the potted plant on the table with grim determination. “This is going to be our new home, and you’re going to finish college, and we’re going to be okay.”

Derek stares out the window at the city below them. The rush of New York is so different from the quiet of Beacon Hills, the green woods replaced with metal and concrete. Laura sits across from him at their kitchen table – square and sleek and perfectly sized for two people; it’s too small, and it makes Derek itch from how _wrong_ it looks – and squeezes his hand. “We’re going to be okay, Derek,” she repeats. “Okay? We’re going to be okay. It’ll just take some time.”

He feels the corners of his mouth twitch up, almost in spite of themselves. _“It just takes some time,”_ he warbles, too close to a whisper to carry any real tune.

Laura catches it anyway. _“Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride,”_ she sings, eyes shining with fresh tears. She reaches across the table and grabs his other hand. _“Everything, everything will be just fine.”_

He doesn’t believe it, won’t believe it, can’t believe it, but maybe one day it’ll be true. _“Everything, everything will be alright, alright.”_

 

* * *

 

The wolfsbane cuts into his hands and burns his skin, but he keeps laying it down, tucks it carefully into the ground to complete the spiral. He should have gone back when Laura did, he should have been there with her when she…when…

He kneels at the end of the line, careful not to disturb the ropes of wolfsbane. He wishes she were here to hold his hand, to tease him with a joke or pet his hair. He wishes she could tell him what to do, what he needs to hear.

She never will. Not ever again.

He swallows stinging tears down a dry throat, clutching his hands together. _“It just takes some time, little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride,”_ he forces out. His voice is so weak he can barely manage the tune, but she’ll hear it anyway, he knows she will. _“Everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be alright, alright.”_

 

* * *

 

Deaton gathers up his instruments, patting Scott’s face gently as the young boy coughs the last of the wolfsbane from his lungs. Derek slumps against the wall and watches his eyes crack open and shut again, watches him squirm on the exam table before slumping back into unconsciousness. He’d put his faith in Derek, joined his pack and been his beta, trusted his guidance and protection.

And Derek had let him almost die.

Derek watches Deaton turn away, heading out of the room to let Scott rest. “Thank you,” he calls, too quaveringly, too haltingly to sound like the alpha he should be. Deaton doesn’t answer, doesn’t even break his stride as he leaves. Derek deserves that. After everything he’s put them all through, he deserves that.

He pushes himself away from the wall, ignoring the twinges of pain. He should be healed enough by now, and if he isn’t, that doesn’t matter. He shuffles closer to the exam table, hand hovering awkwardly next to Scott’s sleeping form. Deaton had patted his face, it had been comforting for him, and that’s…Laura used to…

Scott’s flinches away as Derek’s fingers brush his hair, and his face scrunches. Derek drops his hand to his side. He deserves that. Scott’s face doesn’t smooth out in sleep, though, just stays twisted in discomfort, or distress, or –

His hand flies up again when Scott lets out a whimper, so muted and choked down it makes Derek’s heart clench. He clenches his fist on the edge of the table, leaning closer and then back again when Scott twitches away from him. He can’t – he’s supposed to be Scott’s alpha, he’s supposed to look after him, he’s supposed to be able to help him, and he can’t even…he doesn’t know how…

Laura would’ve known how to help him, he can’t help but think. Laura would’ve known what to do.

He licks his lips and clears his throat. _“It just takes some time,”_ he sings, voice rusty from wolfsbane and lack of practice. He doesn’t sound a thing like Laura, doesn’t sound a thing like an alpha, but – but Scott’s brow unfurrows, and his breaths even out. _“Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride. Everything, everything will be just fine.”_ He reaches slowly for Scott’s hand, and sighs in relief when it doesn’t flinch away, when Scott grabs back and squeezes tight. _“Everything, everything will be alright, alright.”_

 

* * *

 

Cora kicks her feet up on the dashboard as Derek drives down the freeway. “Thank you,” she says. “I just can’t – I can’t, you know?”

“I know.” Derek nods. “It’s not home for you anymore. Hasn’t been for years.”

“And for you?” Cora asks.

Derek doesn’t answer, pretends to be too engrossed in watching the rear view mirror as he changes lanes. Cora nods to herself and settles down in the seat. “I came back for you,” she says. “Because of you. Not for – any of the rest of it. Just for you.” She waits for Derek to meet her gaze before she adds, “It was worth it.”

Derek looks back at the road, the corners of his mouth lifting. “You’ll always be worth it,” he says. He turns his hand over from the gearshift, and Cora wraps hers around it. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you, too,” Cora says. She drops her head back on the seat and shuts her eyes, and Derek thinks she’s fallen asleep when she says, “You know, I’m not going back to South America because that’s where my home is.” She opens her eyes and tilts her head. “It’s the people I’m going back to, the ones who’ve taken care of me all these years. _That’s_ home for me. They just happen to be in South America.”

“Huh.” Derek nods. “Makes sense.”

“Yeah.” Cora turns back to the road. “You’ll find your home one day, Derek. It’ll just take some time.” Derek lips twitch, and Cora huffs out a laugh. _“It just takes some time,”_ she warbles, barely in tune as her eyes dance.

He grins. _“Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride.”_ Cora squeezes his hand, and they sing together. _“Everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be alright, alright.”_

 

* * *

 

Gunfire echoes around him, too dulled and so loud in his ears, and he can’t even feel the handgun he knows is still clutched in his hand. They have to have gotten to Scott, they have to have rescued him, he has to be safe. He _has_ to be. That’s all that matters. As long as Scott is safe, then Derek’s okay.

Something flashes in front of his eyes, but he’s too far gone to see. He can just barely hear the thud of Braeden’s heartbeat, can just barely catch her scent in front of him. He’s okay. It’s okay. It’s alright, she has to know that, it’s alright. _“It just takes some time,”_ he sings, maybe, even though he can’t really feel his lips or his tongue anymore. He tries to pull his cheeks up into a smile, but he can’t really feel that anymore, either. _“Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride. Everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be alright, alright.”_

Everything’s alright. Scott’s safe, and everything’s alright. He knows it. He sighs in relief and fades away.

 

* * *

 

“You conjugated the past participle wrong again.”

Scott groans, slapping his hands over his face. “Seriously?” he says. “I’m gonna fail the Spanish AP.”

“You’re not going to fail the AP if all you get wrong is the past participle,” Derek says as he finishes checking Scott’s take-home quiz. “It’ll probably barely be on there, anyway, and you got everything else right.”

“I’m gonna fail,” Scott says from behind his hands. “I’m gonna fail the Spanish AP, and I’m gonna fail the Lit AP, and I’m gonna fail the Bio AP and I’m never going to get into college.”

“You _already_ got into college,” Derek reminds him, pulling a hand away from his face and nodding at the acceptance letters on his desk. Scott slides his remaining hand over his eyes. “And you did fine with English and APUSH last year. You’ll do fine again this year.”

“Those were all thanks to you and Mr. Yukimura, though.”

“Well, that’s why I’m here right now.”

Scott rolls out of his seat and lands facedown on the floor. “I’m gonna fail out of _college_.”

“Now I get why Stiles didn’t want to study with you anymore,” Derek mutters under his breath. “Alright, your brain’s fried. Time for a study break.”

“But-”

“No buts,” Derek says, trying and failing to pull Scott upright. He sighs, glancing around the room for something to pry Scott off the floor, then pauses when he sees the guitar in the corner. “Huh.”

“Huh what?” Scott mumbles into the carpet.

“The guitar,” Derek says. He drops Scott back onto the floor – Scott moans feebly but doesn’t make any other attempt at moving – and lifts the guitar from its stand. “I’ve never noticed it before.”

“Well, this is only, like, the third time you’ve been here in actual daylight and no mortal peril,” Scott says as he drags himself onto the bed. “Not surprised. Can you play?”

“Nah.” Derek shakes his head and hands the guitar over. “I was a pretty awesome air drummer, though.”

Scott laughs, tuning the guitar quickly. “I mean, I can barely play, either. Haven’t played in ages.” He picks his way absently through chords. “Dunno if I even remember any songs. Oh, hang on, I think I got one-”

Derek freezes as Scott plays the opening riff, spine snapping straight as the familiar notes spill into his ears. “It’s kind of an old song, but it’s kind of a classic,” Scott says, blithely unaware as he frowns down at his fingers. “I don’t really remember how the verses go, but anyway, the chorus is like-”

_“It just takes some time, little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride,”_ Derek hears himself sing. Scott laughs in delight, bouncing along in his seat. _“Everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be-”_

Scott stops mid-strum. “Derek?”

“Sorry,” Derek says thickly as his throat starts to close in on itself. “Sorry, I-” He shakes his head, and tears drip onto his shirt. “It’s nothing, it’s fine, I just.”

“Hey.” Scott’s hands close around his, squeezing gently. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I totally understand. But, uh, if you wanted to – it’s good to let things out, sometimes…”

“It’s – Laura.” Derek swallows, staring down at their hands. “She – we used to sing that together all the time.” He tries to smile, but it feels more like a grimace. “I just think of her whenever I hear it.”

“Oh,” Scott says. “Oh god, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have – I should’ve asked-”

“No, it’s fine,” Derek says. He looks up and meets Scott’s eyes, wide and warm and unnecessarily apologetic. “It’s a good song. I – I like hearing it.”

“Okay,” Scott says uncertainly. “Only if you’re sure.”

“I am,” Derek says, nodding firmly. “I’ll even teach you the verses. If you’re going to play it, you better play it properly.”

Scott laughs, eyes crinkling into a more genuine smile, and then Melissa McCall’s voice floats up through the floor. “I gotta go set the table,” he says, setting the guitar aside. “You staying for dinner?”

Derek tries not to think of how empty his loft feels since Braeden moved out. “I should get going,” he says, standing and looking around for his jacket.

“Yeah, I wasn’t actually asking you.”

Derek watches Scott stuff his jacket into the closet. “It sure sounded like you did.”

Scott shrugs and grabs Derek by the arm. “You’re staying for dinner. Alpha’s orders.”

“You never order anyone around,” Derek says as he lets Scott tug him out the door and down the stairs.

“Well, I am now,” Scott says. “You’re helping me pass Spanish, the least I can do is feed you.”

Derek smiles as Scott hands him a stack of plates. “Technically, your mom’s the one feeding me.”

“Okay, so next time _I’ll_ cook dinner.”

Derek almost drops the plates. “Next time?” he repeats. “There’s gonna be a next time?”

“Yeah, of course,” Scott says easily. He looks up from taking glasses out of the cupboard, lips curving into an earnest smile. “There’s always gonna be a next time for you, as long as you want to come back. Alright?”

It’s not about going back to the place, Cora had said. It’s about the people who live there, she’d said. Derek ducks his head as blood pools in his cheeks. “Alright.”

 

* * *

 

He cracks his eyes open, but they feel weighted down with bricks and slip shut again. Deaton places a hand on his face, patting him gently before moving away. “Thank you,” Scott calls out, steady and shaking all at once, swallowing in on itself as the door clicks shut.

Derek hears footsteps move closer, and then a hand brushes his hair back from his face. He smiles, or he thinks he does, warmth blooming in his chest as he squirms closer to his alpha’s touch. He’s safe here with Scott, he’s protected, he’s _loved_. He knows that now, knows that Scott will always be there for him, will always be wherever he calls home, and he just wants to claw his way back to consciousness so he can _tell him_ already –

“You’re going to be okay, Derek,” Scott murmurs, still carding soothing fingers through his hair. “You just need to rest now, and you’ll be okay, and I’ll be right here when you wake up, alright? I’m not going anywhere.”

I know, Derek tries to say, but his tongue sits heavy and useless in his unmoving mouth. He _knows_.

Scott huffs a laugh. “I know this is so cliché, me waiting ‘till you’re asleep to tell you, but, well, I never said I was brave.” He takes a deep breath. “I love you, Derek. I love you, and I should’ve told you sooner, and I should’ve told you every day. I love you.”

I love you, too, he wants to say. You need to tell me again when I’m awake, he wants to say. I’ll tell you myself, he wants to say.

I hope I’m not dreaming, he thinks.

“I’ll tell you when you wake up,” Scott says. “Okay? I promise I will. Don’t let me go back on that. It took us long enough to get here; I don’t want it to take any longer.” He wraps his hand around Derek’s and squeezes tight. Derek tries his hardest to squeeze back. _“It just takes some time, little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride,”_ Scott sings softly, cautiously, terrified. _“Everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be alright, alright.”_

 

* * *

 

Derek cradles his daughter close as she wails. “Shhhhh,” he coos as he rocks her gently. “Daddy’s got you. Everything’s alright. You don’t want to wake up Papi, do you?”

“Too late.” Scott rubs his eyes as he walks in, hooking his chin over Derek’s shoulder. “You being difficult for Daddy?” he asks. She squirms in Derek’s arms and reaches for him. “Oh. You _are_ being difficult for Daddy.”

“Well, she learned from the best,” Derek says dryly.

Scott laughs, then makes a face down at their daughter. “Hey. How about we sing you a song, and then you go to sleep?” She gurgles happily. “Sounds like a deal.”

“She’s picking up all your worst habits,” Derek sighs before turning back to their daughter. _“It just takes some time,”_ they sing together, _“Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride. Everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be alright, alright.”_

She’s fast asleep by the time Derek lays her in her crib. Scott squeezes his hand as they watch her sleep, and smiles up at him. “Alright?” he asks.

Derek smiles and leans down for a kiss. “Alright.”


End file.
